


until the sun no longer shines

by sergeantfuckybarnes



Category: Captain America (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Artist Steve Rogers, Bucky is a statue, Curse Breaking, Curses, Florence - Freeform, Fluff, Italy, Mythology - Freeform, Soulmates, Steve Rogers & Natasha Romanov Friendship, bc i'm core knee, i guess lol, sam is a real one, the line, y'all already know i had to put the line in
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-25
Updated: 2019-07-25
Packaged: 2020-07-19 09:15:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,676
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19971631
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sergeantfuckybarnes/pseuds/sergeantfuckybarnes
Summary: There is a beautiful statue of a man called the Sunshine Patriot in the middle of Florence, Italy. The rumor surrounding the statue is that when he touches hands with his soulmate, he will become human again. The Sunshine Patriot still stands, gazing longingly into the sunset, waiting for his soulmate to free him from the curse.





	until the sun no longer shines

**Author's Note:**

> based on a prompt i saw on instagram.
> 
> title from baby i'm yours by arctic monkeys.
> 
> all mistakes are my own, obviously there is no statue in the middle of florence, i just chose Italy because isn't florence like the birthplace of the renaissance and art and stuff? anyways bucky is a work of art that's the theme of the story the end.
> 
> the name sunshine patriot is from that one paine poem, y'all know the one.

Steve and Natasha were browsing websites listing popular attractions in Italy when a picture of a statue caught her eye. She scrolled to the bottom of the picture to a short article written about the piece.

_Located in the center of Florence, the Sunshine Patriot is a statue cast in bronze, and one of the most popular works of art in the city. The legend of the Sunshine Patriot is as follows: a man, once beautiful and lively refused to fall in love with the half man, half monster named Alexander. Upset that the Sunshine Patriot refused to return his affections, Alexander cursed him to be frozen as a statue for thousands of years. Convinced that the Patriot could never be truly loved, Alexander declared that the only way the Patriot could be freed from his curse would be if he touched the hand of his true soulmate. Centuries have passed, but the Sunshine Patriot still stands, gazing longingly into the sunset, waiting for his soulmate to free him from the curse._

“Rumor has it that when this statue touches the hand of his soulmate, he becomes human.”

“Natasha, you know that’s just a lie to attract tourists, right?”

“Even if it’s not true, it’s a really magical looking statue. I think it would still be interesting to visit.”

Steve takes a look at the picture pulled up on Natasha’s laptop screen. She wasn’t lying about the statue looking magical. The man cast in bronze was actually quite beautiful. He stood at about six feet tall with one arm above his head and the other arm at his side, palm facing up. His hair had flowers braided into it and reached down to his shoulders. He looked to be dressed in a long, billowing robe. The most captivating thing about the statue was his wistful expression. He had his face turned just to the west, facing the sunset, gazing into the distance as if he was searching for someone. As an artist himself, Steve appreciated the craftsmanship of it.

“It is a really nice statue, actually. We can stop by while we’re in the city.”

Steve had always wanted to visit Florence because of the rich history, mainly the art history. He had been planning this trip since he became an art major, so as soon as he graduated in May, he finally had the opportunity to go. He asked Natasha to join because he wanted to share the experience with someone else. Plus, she helped him plan the trip and told Steve she was coming along whether he would have asked her or not.

The pair collected their travel bags, water, and sunscreen and headed out to the city. The location of the statue wasn’t far from the hotel they were staying at, so they decided to walk. Steve admired the architecture of the old buildings along the way while Natasha people watched.

“We could move here, you know.” Natasha mused. “We could literally just stay here and not go back to the states.”

Steve laughed. “We could, couldn’t we?” he says. “But as beautiful as this place is, there’s nothing really keeping me here.”

Natasha just hummed in agreement.

Steve wouldn’t be opposed to living here. He could make a living as an artist anywhere, and what better place than Florence to begin his career? It just wasn’t home, he supposes.

They knew they reached the destination when they saw a small crowd of tourists standing around the statue. People were going up to it one by one and touching the outstretched hand, each one looking slightly disappointed that the statue didn’t magically come to life. When they got close to the statue, Natasha asked a man next to them if he would take their picture with the statue.

“Yeah, sure.”

Natasha handed him her phone. “I’m Natasha, by the way, that’s Steve.”

“Sam Wilson. Nice to meet you.”

Steve held out his hand for the other man to shake. “Good to meet you, Sam.”

“Have you touched the statue yet?” Natasha asked him.

“Oh yeah, a few years back. I visit here every year. This one is one of my favorite spots in the city.”

“Hoping to witness him come to life?” Steve joked.

“Something like that.” Sam said, a strange look in his eye.

It was suddenly their turn to walk up to the statue. The rest of the tourists had already gone after taking their picture with the statue. He noticed the way the sunset illuminated the Sunshine Patriot’s face and was mesmerized. The statue was so realistic, conveying such strong emotions in his gaze. Steve felt almost breathless walking up the steps to pose with the statue.

“Alright guys, say cheese!”

For the sake of the photo, Steve grabbed the Patriot’s outstretched hand. They both smiled and Sam took a few pictures. As expected, nothing happened. Steve knew it wouldn’t happen, but he is more disappointed than he thought he’d be.

Sam invited them to a table nearby to hang out a little while longer. Natasha seemed to have taken a liking to him, understandably, because the man was built like a brick wall and was very handsome. Steve just couldn’t stop looking over at the Patriot. Something about the statue just completely captured all of his attention.

He asked Natasha to send him the photos that Sam took so he could see how they came out. As he was swiping through the series of pictures, something caught his eye. It looked like the statue was blinking in the second photo.

“Hey, guys, take a look at this.” Steve held out the phone to Natasha and Sam.

“That’s a great picture, Steve, you should post it.” Natasha said, not noticing what Steve noticed.

“Yeah, but look closer, Nat. It looks like the statue blinked! Swipe through and compare them.”

As Natasha looked through the pictures, Sam looked over at the statue.

“Holy shit,” he said, moving closer to the statue.

Steve hurried to follow Sam, Natasha getting up right after him.

When they got close to the statue, they all gasped. Starting from the top of the Sunshine Patriot’s head, the statue slowly changed from bronze to color. It was astonishing. Steve couldn’t believe his eyes. Sam was smiling. Natasha was still looking at the pictures. She looked up at Steve.

“Steve, you were the one that touched his hand.”

Steve couldn’t take his eyes off of the statue- the man - transforming. He was captivated. From the flowers woven into his hair down to the fabric pooled at his bare feet, the man was perfect. When the Sunshine Patriot completely emerged, the first thing he did was reach out to Sam. Steve couldn’t help the stab of jealousy that ran through him. Steve was the one that brought him to life, why would he go to Sam?

Sam hugged the Sunshine Patriot and whispered something in his ear. Suddenly, the Patriot looked directly at Steve with his piercing blue eyes. His heart almost beat out of his chest as the Patriot let go of Sam to walk towards Steve.

The Patriot held out both his hands and grabbed Steve’s.

Steve felt butterflies- _butterflies, seriously?_ \- when the Patriot spoke.

“Hi.” He said, beaming like the sun.

“Hi.” Steve replied, at a loss for words.

“My name is James.”

“I’m Steve.”

“You can call me Bucky, though.”

“Bucky?” Steve questioned.

“That was my nickname before…” Bucky trailed off.

“I like it.”

“Thank you for saving me, Steve.”

“Oh, I didn’t do much…”

Bucky, still with that huge grin on his face, hugged Steve.

“Do you know what this means?” he asked.

“It means I’m your soulmate, right?”

“Right.” Bucky pulled away to look at Steve. His expression suddenly went serious. “That doesn’t mean you have to do anything about it. I won’t force you to be with me.”

Steve was shocked. He just met his supposed soulmate less than ten minutes ago but he already knew he would never leave his side.

“I won’t leave you. If we’re soulmates, that has to count for something. I’m willing to give this a chance if you are.”

Bucky smiled again. God, he will never get over that radiant smile. “You really mean that?”

“Yeah, Buck. I’m with you ‘til the end of the line.”

Bucky’s eyes teared up at that. “Oh, Stevie. I’m glad you’re my soulmate.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

“Me too.”

Steve grabbed Bucky’s hand and interlaced their fingers. He did have one question. “So, how do you know Sam?”

Bucky laughed. “Sam here was my best friend back in the day. I’m not quite sure how he’s here now, though.”

As if he knew he was being talked about, Sam walked up to Steve and Bucky.

“I’m here because I tried to intervene when Alexander cast the curse on you. He put a curse on me that prevented me from aging until your curse was broken. He wanted me to live with the fact that I failed to save you.”

“Sam, I’m so sorry you had to go through that because of me.” Bucky said.

“It wasn’t your fault, Bucky, it was Alexander’s. He’s an evil man and you owed him nothing.” Sam replied.

“Thanks Sam.” Bucky said, letting go of Steve to hug Sam.

“So, are you guys done being sappy yet? I think it would be a good idea to get out of here before someone notices that Florence’s most popular tourist trap is missing.” Natasha points out.

“You’re right.” Steve turns to Bucky. “I’m sure you’re hungry after all that time being frozen.” Steve says.

“Yeah, I could go for a sandwich.” Bucky chuckled.

The rest of the group laughed.

“Come on, I know the perfect place.” Sam says, leading them away from where the Sunshine Patriot once stood.

Steve strolls up to Natasha’s side while Sam and Bucky catch up.

“You know what, Nat? I think you’re right.”

“Hmm?”

“We could just drop everything and live here.” He glanced over at Bucky. “I have a reason to stay now.”

**Author's Note:**

> kudos/comments are greatly appreciated!
> 
> my tumblr is soundcfreverie if anyone wants to follow :)
> 
> thanks for reading!


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